Sydney Festival returns from 7-25 January 2027 with a program stretching across Greater Sydney, headlined by Hannah Gadsby’s new show, a major ONEFOUR collaboration with the Penrith Chamber Orchestra, cars converted into plunge pools and saunas at Barangaroo, and more than 10,000 tickets at $49 or less.
Sydney Festival has revealed its 2027 program, running 7-25 January and spanning the CBD to Bondi and out to the western suburbs, with comedy from Hannah Gadsby, a first-time pairing of drill collective ONEFOUR with the Penrith Chamber Orchestra, a free late-night takeover of The Cutaway, and an outdoor festival hub returning to Barangaroo Reserve.
The announcement confirms more than 10,000 tickets priced at $49 or under across every ticketed event, a deliberate move to open prime seats to a wider audience. Festival Director Kris Nelson said the pricing is designed to let people take a chance on unfamiliar artists or artforms. “We want everyone to feel that this Festival belongs to them, and that means making great seats part of the offer,” Nelson said. “With terrific seats available for $49 or under at every performance of every ticketed show, we’re giving audiences more freedom to take a chance on an unfamiliar artist, try a different artform or bring a friend.”
At the centre of the harbourside program is waynapuni pools on Stargazer Lawn at Barangaroo Reserve. Participatory artist and industrial designer Benjamin Paul has worked with local and Palawa teen artists to turn junkyard cars into bathhouses, saunas and steam baths. Cold-plunge Commodores and hot-spring Falcons become places of gathering and care. Around them, The Yard returns as a free outdoor festival hub from 8-24 January, with pop-up restaurants, art and space to linger by the water before or after shows. No ticket is required.
Hannah Gadsby returns to Sydney with a new show at Roslyn Packer Theatre. The Emmy, Peabody and three-time AACTA Award winner turns to the idea of personal foundation myths, those defining moments that only come into focus later. Gadsby brings the same sharp perspective that has defined their work to the distance between living through something and finally understanding it.
Music sits prominently in the program. Over the festival’s final days in Penrith, ONEFOUR and the Penrith Chamber Orchestra meet for the first time at The Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre. The major new commission with Penrith Performing & Visual Arts pairs the Mount Druitt drill collective with a full string section on home ground. ONEFOUR’s 2025 debut album Look At Me Now reached No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart, and the Netflix documentary ONEFOUR: Against All Odds tracked their rise. The collaboration marks their biggest local show yet.
Blak Out, led by Head of First Nations Programming Aidan Rowlingson and presented with the University of Sydney as Major Presenting Partner, runs through the festival with theatre, dance, music and visual art. Centrepieces include the world premiere of ILBIJERRI Theatre Company’s THE LINE, co-presented with the Sydney Opera House. Written by Trawlwoolway and Palawa playwright Nathan Maynard and co-directed by Maynard and Dr Rachael Maza AM, the darkly comic work examines the legacy of the 1830 Black Line in Lutruwita/Tasmania.
Also under the Blak Out banner, Blak & Blues takes over the Metro Theatre for intimate sessions connecting First Nations artists with Black American songbooks. Budjerah channels Donny Hathaway across two nights, MO’JU reworks Bill Withers, and SOLCHLD steps into the repertoire of Etta James.
Dance forms a major pillar through Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels. The Cutaway becomes a house of dance for the first time, hosting Rachid Ouramdane’s Outsider, in which 20 dancers from Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève and four extreme sports athletes work a network of tightropes. Marrugeku presents the world premiere of Ngurragabu at Carriageworks inside a monumental petrified mangrove forest installation by Abdul-Rahman Abdullah. Other dance works include pieces by (LA)HORDE, TAO Dance Theater, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Radouan Mriziga, and free performances such as Cassiel Gaube’s Soirée d’études and Trisha Brown’s Roof Piece at the Art Gallery of NSW.
The opening weekend features The Party, a free late-night dance takeover of The Cutaway on 8 January with DJs, surprise performances and room to stay into the early hours. Elsewhere, Filipino artist Leeroy New collaborates with BANG-ON Collective and Blacktown communities on the world premiere of Future Fiestas at Darling Harbour, turning discarded plastics into parade costumes through family workshops.
Theatre and comedy range from Irish company Dead Centre and Zoë McWhinney’s Australian-exclusive Deaf Republic at Roslyn Packer Theatre to Jéssica Teixeira’s Monga, Salty Brine’s He’s So Unusual, and Betty Grumble’s world premiere A Loved Woman. Music continues with Ali Sethi’s Australian live debut at City Recital Hall, Wasia Project, an improvised night from Paul Grabowsky, James Morrison, William Barton and Kram under the banner The Others, and Marcus Whale’s doom-metal electronic opera Atopia at Campbelltown Arts Centre.
Free and family programming includes Holly Austin’s Kite Choir on the Sydney Opera House Northern Broadwalk and Legs On The Wall’s Waverider at Bondi Pavilion, where the giant inflatable wave becomes a play space after the performance. Summer School, led by Artistic Associate Nithya Nagarajan, offers workshops, rituals, talks and cooking sessions that bring audiences closer to the ideas behind the work.
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully noted the festival’s role in activating spaces such as The Cutaway and supporting the city’s night-time economy. Tickets go on sale Thursday 22 October, with limited $49 prime seats available across the ticketed program. Full details and bookings are at sydneyfestival.org.au.
